The Think Tank

I shot my new Contender Elite today.  I spent the first couple of hours working on getting the bow tuned up and ready to go, so there isn’t a lot of actual shooting to report on.

The first thing I did was turn the draw weight down.  It was at 62 lbs. when I received it, and I backed it down to 57.  (It looks like one full turn = 2 lbs.)

I started out by shooting it through paper and I found that I had about a 1.5 inch left tear.  I adjusted my rest by moving it in toward the riser as far as I could.  There was still a slight left tear, but I was out of adjustment on my rest, so I just left it.  I will probably need to slide the launcher shaft out a little bit so I can get my rest back into the middle position of my adjustment.

I shot for about 40 minutes after that with mixed results.  I thought that my draw was a little too long, so I had one of the guys there at Archers shorten it up 1/2 inch, bringing it to 30.5 inches.  (That is what I thought it should be.  I’ve done measurements in the past that suggested 31 was correct, but 30.5 is usually what feels right.  When you factor in release rope/D-loop, it makes sense.)  I also dropped the draw weight down to 54 lbs.

After that, things felt a lot better.  I started holding better and my left shoulder started feeling better, thanks to the reduced draw weight primarily I think.  I also pulled the peep down about 1/4″ because I had been fighting with it a little bit.  Moving it down stopped all the struggling to see.  I pulled up, set my anchor and everything was right.

I shot a few ends on the same target, then I put up a new target and started keeping score.  I was already tired and struggling a little bit to aim on some shots, but I wanted to get an idea of where I was at.  I took a short break, then shot two practice ends.  My sights were a little low from the peep adjustment, but I got those up into the X by the second end.  I felt a little unsteady on the aim, bouncing around the whole gold sometimes, but mostly staying in the 10 ring.

Once I started scoring I tried to stop thinking about the equipment, and focus on shooting my shot like normal.  Things started settling down when I refocused my attention like that.

I noticed some side-to-side variation all day, and that carried over the first 3-4 ends on the new target.  I started paying attention to my bow hand.  The grip on this bow is quite a bit smaller than it is on the Scepters, which I actually like quite a bit, but it does feel different in my hand.  I started curling my last three fingers in on my bow hand, so that my pinky finger is touching my palm.  I couldn’t do this easily on the other bow without my fingers touching the handle and applying some side-to-side pressure.

That grip feels very natural to me, and it seems to work very well.  After that, I never had an arrow go farther astray (horizontally)  than the edge of the X ring.  Two of the points that I dropped were before I started paying attention to my grip, and both of them were in the same hole at nine  O’clock.

There was one peculiar thing that I noticed today.  I took two breaks during the scoring ends, after ends 3 and 7, and both times after I came back my first two arrows were low.  One of them caught the bottom of the 10, the other was just out on both ends.  The two nines were almost inside-out in the same hole.

I’m not sure what to make of that.    I will have to watch that in the days to come.

All in all, I thought the bow is shooting very well. I shot 19 X’s this afternoon, which I’m pretty sure is my highest Vegas X count since I started shooting again.  That is not to be confused with a “good” X count, but it is showing some improvement already.  I will be happier when I get that up to around 22-25, which is about where I was when I quit.

The 296 is not fantastic, but it too is my highest Vegas score since I’ve been back.  (I have had two rounds where I only dropped 1 point on the day, but they were both incomplete.  One was only 7 ends, the other 8 ends.)

After I got the bow hand thing figured out, I was mostly dropping arrows in the same holes when I shot well, and those holes were in the X ring.  When I struggled, things opened up a little bit, but still they mostly caught liners or were barely out.  I didn’t have any that were near the tomato patch, unlike the last several times I shot the Scepter, which had one or two out there every day.

One thing to note before shooting next: I need to retie the bottom nocking point.  It is a little too low, which allows the arrow to slip up and down about 1/8 of an inch.  It’s not a lot, but it certainly may account for some of the vertical variances I saw today.

Additional information: —————————————

Start date: Mar 19, 2011 2:54 PM Target: FITA Total score: 296 19x

— Sent from my iPhone

I felt tired and shaky all day, especially in my right forearm, which had me concerned all day. My head hurt a little bit and I felt sort of lightheaded off and on as well, which I think is the result of the pseudophed that I took prior to shooting, coupled with the headcold I think I am getting.

I started the day off a little nervous and felt a bit like I had something to prove, that I can shoot better than I’ve been showing. Unlike usual, when I feel that I do better in higher pressure situations, today I did not answer that call at all. I dropped 7 x’s between the first two and last two ends. That’s more than half of my misses in 1/3 of the ends.

Especially as the day work on, the more I tried to step up, the more I lost track of some part of my form, which is too bad because I’d say that at least 20-25 of my shots were a bit of a struggle to get through.

I did manage to shoot some very good arrows today, but all in all I don’t think this was a very strong performance, especially when you consider that arrows that I dropped (IE, when I really felt I needed to clean the ends).

I didn’t get particular upset over any single arrow or shot, which is good. In fact, two or three of the missed X’s came off of shots that I thought I had performed pretty well, and those didn’t phase me at all. I was trying to shoot for form, and when I hit my form I called it good, even on the few occasions when those shots missed.

Overall I am disappointed with this weekend. I feel that I could have / should have shot 6-10 X’s better. At the same time, I feel that I shot an awful lot of really good shots and a lot of inside-out arrows as well, so I that is encouraging.

One concerning trend is dropping X’s in groups: I shot something like seven 3-X rounds over the course of the weekend, which more or less equaled the number of 5-X ends I shot. That is way too much. Missing is bad enough, but missing in multiples is something that I really can’t let myself do. I have to special attention to this moving forward. If I drop one, I have to made damn sure I don’t drop another.

One thing to note, on a few occasions this weekend when I hit my form perfectly, I could see the arrow flight and it looks pretty horrible. I need to check it through paper and see if it is messed up. If so, that could account for the lack of forgiveness I am experiencing.

Additional information: —————————————

Start date: Mar 13, 2011 12:54 PM Target: NFAA/IFAA Indoor Total score: 300 49X Weekend Total: 600 99X

I started feeling like I was getting sick last night, and that translated into today.  I had a headache trying to come on most of the day, partially plugged up ears and a scratchy throat.  I took pills which helped make me feel better, but I was sweating like a pig and I was having a really hard time getting through me shots strong.

I felt pretty confident after shooting last night, and I tried really hard to keep my focus on maintaining my form.  It was difficult to keep my mind purely on form, though, because Archer’s Afield is kind of dark (so I struggled to see a little bit) and I was a bit nervous.  My shoulder felt a little weak as well, so I wasn’t holding as well I have been the last few days in practice.

My first two practice ends were 10 almost inside-out X’s, which built a little confidence, but I started my scoring ends with 4 X’s and 3 X’s, which was disappointing.  I missed my fifth shot on the first end, and the shot was a struggle, and by the end I had lost track of my bow arm and the shot felt tight.  I knew it was out when I shot it.

For the most part I did a good job of feeling my form while I was aiming, focusing on the position I wanted my bow-arm and release arm to wind up in after the shot.  When I did that successfully, I pretty much always drilled the cross hairs on the X.  Basically, my score perfectly reflects my good shots: the ones that I focused on my form while I was aiming, and my bow came to rest on my hip and my release hand was on my shoulder (or just above it) the arrow was inside out.  When I failed to focus on my form, or struggled a bit and therefore lost track of something (usually my bow hand and/or arm), the arrow missed and missed badly.  There were perhaps 4-5 arrows where I felt my form was less than perfect and the arrow still caught.

Three arrows do stand out:

1. On the second end, my aim was solid X ring the whole time and my bow arm/release hand wound up in perfect position, yet the arrow hit at 6 O’clock mid-five.  The only thing of note was that it felt like I was looking through the bottom of my peep.  I’m not sure if that means I had my head out of position or if my anchor was slightly off, but it’s something I need to pay more attention to.  I have seen the exact same thing in practice a few times.
2. The exact same thing happened on the seventh end, and the arrow went in the exact same hole.
3. On the 8th or 9th end, my third shot was feeling perfect for a long time, but I held it a little long.  I was sitting rock solid on the X the whole time, so I kept pulling.  Right at the very end the dot bobbled down out of the X and of course that was when I released.  The shot was beautifully executed and hit exactly where I aimed it.  Unfortunately, I had aimed it just under the X.

The 12th end saw a similar problem, except that instead of sliding out of the X, I crept on my release arm just a touch and put the arrow at 12 O’clock mid-five. I was very disappointed in that, because I always try extra hard to clean my last round.  I did shoot two perfect shots on 4 & 5, both literally splitting the center of the X.

Additional information: —————————————

Start date: Mar 12, 2011 11:25 AM Target: NFAA/IFAA Indoor Total score: 300 50x

I shot at Broken Arrow today.

I was very tired due to spending the last two nights out, but despite that I felt pretty good to start out. Still, I alternated shooting and resting to try to keep my arm and back fresh: shooting two ends and then resting one.

Things started out very good. I decided to keep my pinky finger out on the pinky slot on the release Instead of bunching up like usual in the hopes that it would aid in getting through my shots a little faster, especially when I was tired. It worked very well, although in the early going it worked a little too well: I had two shots go off way early, one before I was even really on the target. Fortunately I was able to push that up to the five.

Aside from those miscues, things went pretty well in the beginning. From the first shot, my hand was snapping back onto my shoulder like it is supposed to, and every time it did that the arrow went inside-out in the X, almost without fail. I did drop two x’s out the right side, after struggling a bit. I think that I wind up doing something with my hand, because when I struggle but also pay attention to my bow hand, the left/right deviation is greatly reduced.

When I moved to the upper bales, things got tough. I let down one shot and struggled through two others on end 7 but managed 5 x’s, though two of them needed help. When I started out on end 8 I was really trying to shoot solid shots even though I was very fatigued and my right arm and back were trying to cramp. The first arrow was dead center, but the next four were awful. They were all weak, and I k is I crept badly on at least two of them. I went Smurfin’ with #4 and ended up with a 24 1x. Yuck.

I took a longer than normal break after that and started back with a renewed vigor to keep my release hand touching my shoulder on the follow through, which was my main focus all day. I though somewhat about keeping my bow arm user control, but mostly I was thinking about my release hand, and that was working very well.

I ended up shooting 5x, 4x, 5x & 5x on the last four, bringing me in at an even 50x’s. I was really happy with that, because I put a little pressure on myself to finish clean, but I still buckled down and stayed focused on the form in order to make it happen.

I definitely had a higher number of inside-out shots today than any other day I’ve shot, and the 50 x’s is also a high since I started again. Most importantly, I felt more natural and some of the nuances of my old form were present today, specifically after a good shot my hand would be on my shoulder, but came out of that form by shrugging my shirt back into place and touching my chest withy release hand, just the way I used to.

I feel pretty encouraged by today’s shooting, despite the blueberry I killed.

Additional information: —————————————

Start date: Mar 2, 2011 4:43 PM Target: NFAA/IFAA Indoor Total score: 299 50x

Today was the second day of the State Indoor championships in Lincoln City.  I didn’t shoot quite as well today as I did yesterday, which is somewhat disappointing as I know I can do better than I did.  But, hey… This weekend was only my 11th and 12th day of  shooting after a very long gap, so I guess this isn’t a bad jumping off point.

I started the day tied for 13th (out of about 40), but due to the one arrow  I shot in the blue today, I dropped a few places in the final rankings.  The crew running the tournament was pretty green this year and didn’t do a great job of posting scores, so I never saw the final tally, but I know that I wound up somewhere between 16th and 20th.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, Debbie Lane also started shooting recently and her urging is what pushed me over the edge into deciding to shoot again.  She shot this weekend as well, and did pretty darn well.  In fact, she won her division!

We’ll both be shooting in the NFAA Northwest Indoor Sectionals in Tigard on March 12-13.  I for one am excited for the chance to improve on my performance this weekend.

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